Bucket Seat: BMW M135i X Drive

After spending some time with the new BMW 118i, I was eager to see what the range topping M135i had to offer. This is the range topping variant currently available on the market for the 1 Series and their hot hatch competitor in a market that is becoming fiercely competitive. From what seems to be the norm on all new M models, the M135i comes with X Drive which is BMW's four-wheel drive system, which balances out the power delivery from the engine to all four wheels in Sport mode. Also it will have the purist happy knowing that it won't just be front-wheel drive like the rest of the 1 Series line up. Having put my demons to bed about the looks when I had the 118i, I was quite looking forward to checking this model out and see what modifications and additions in the design BMW will add to beef the look up of the M135i and I was not disappointing as you will soon find out. 

DESIGN

With the 1 Series design being a bit different from the outgoing model, this new one is pretty refreshing and on closer inspection you will appreciate with the guys in Bavaria have done. This particular car came in Misano Blue and being their performance model, it was evident they had to add some additions to the design to make sure it stands out from the line up. First thing you will notice is the blacked out fused kidney grilles, which feature the trident design instead of the parallel lines on the standard models, the same design which is featured on the M340i. The grille is also active, so opens and closes when airflow is required. The front difusser is changed, with a bigger air-intake in the bottom and more dominant air-scoops leading to the brake duct. 18" M Sport V style bi-colour rims make the car stand out even more, with the clean lines leading to the rear where the rear difussor is more pronounced with high-gloss black bottom and large twin-exhausts that amplify that this is not a car to be messed about with. On the inside, the layout is identical to a normal 1 Series with a lot more brushed aluminium and silver accents, what you will notice immediately is the sport seats which are stunning and mighty comfortable if I have to say so myself. 

PERFORMANCE

Big talking point about this new M135i is the engine, previous model used a 6  cylinder while this new one is a 4/4 layout. While this may be the case power delivery has been increased with the 2-litre TwinPower Turbo motor producing 225kW and a torque figure of 450Nm to propel from standstill, achieving a 0-100km/h time of just 4.8 seconds. It's quite blistering and with the four-wheel drive quite an experience to the driver. With the 4 cylinder motor, there is a considerable drop in the fuel consumption and while BMW brochure quotes the average being 7.5L per 100km, I did two long distance journeys with it and on the first one managed to get 7.7L per 100km but the second I got 7,2L per 100km! So I'm very impressed with how is cruises and sips fuel, not as thirsty as other hot hatches tend to be. Now with a hot hatch you don't want me ranting and raving about how good it is when driving slow, select Sport+ and unleash the demon in this bugger, the tone in the pipes get louder, X Drive is active and this thing plants itself on the tarmac like a clingy ex-girlfriend. The way the car hugs the corners at high speed with power distribution shifting to the wheels that need the most is something to be amazed at. Just when you think you've reached the peak in terms of cornering speeds, the car tells you to give it more because it can handle it. They say this is just something to whet the appetite since there is a M140i rumored to be in the works, but if this thing is anything to go by, that M140i will be mental. 

COMFORT

When it comes to a sporty hot hatch, the last thing you want to hear is how comfortable the car is but even with the sports racing seats the M135i is blody cosy. The car came spec'd with the cloth 'Trigon'/ Alcantara Black blend for the seats and upholstery trimming, so it looked the part with all the detailed stitching. The seats were fully electric with 3 memory settings, with adjustable lumbar support and seat heating. So yes, the full package for the front passenger and driver. The rear passengers also get this fine textures and trims along with their one zone aircon. While it is a sporty vehicle with stiff suspension the general drive is pretty good, not as bumpy as you would expect. The cabin like all BMW's is properly sealed so there is very little road noise. Like the 118i, the ambient lighting is worked into the panels and really look stunning at night. There's nothing I can really pinpoint and have fault with, what I love is that whether you're sitting in a 1 Series or a 5 Series, the quality of materials used inside the cabin are of similar quality, so you're not being shortchanged just because you're driving the "entry level" model. 

VERDICT

Overall, the new BMW M135i really has raised the bar in terms of hot hatches on the market, while the figures might not be blistering as some others, it has a decent offering that should not be easily overlooked. Couple that performance with the knowing that this car can perform equally well when driven properly so it will keep your visits to the fuel station less frequent, then you know you have a winner on your hands. Cabin space is generous for a hatchback as well as luggage capacity. The list of standard equipment is great on this top of the range model so you won't be ticking a lot of boxes on the options list. It's a great little pocket rocket if you want something small and exciting to drive. 

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine	2L, 4cyl Twin Power Turbo
Gear Box	Automatic Steptronic
Torque	450Nm
Power	225kW
Consumption	7.5L/100km
Price	R763,300*

*Base Price

 

Bucket Seat: BMW M135i

I'm not the biggest fan of hatchbacks, we've only ever owned sedans in my family and big ones at that. Learning how to drive in a large sedan did prove useful to me as anything else that I needed to drive didn't seem like a big adjustment. Hence my love for them continued, even whilst many raved about hatchbacks, I never really took the liking to them, yes I admired the hot hatches but the urge wasn't there. Yes sure they're great cars and most are great value for money but maybe I just preferred having an actual boot? 

BMW called me up  earlier this year and said they were going to send their M135i to me for a week, this was the second time this car was scheduled for me as the last time someone had some trouble with the power of it and it had to go in for some minor repairs, so I was really looking forward to getting this car. Having driven the 120i late last year, I knew the 1 Series was one of the better in it's range compared to it's competitors so having a go in their range topping model was an opportunity I was waiting for.

Since the day it arrived, you knew this car was special. It rolled in, painted in their signature Estoril Blue, with 18" smoked alloy rims, flared air in takes on the front M Sport bumper which was painted in silver and the twin black performance exhausts that hummed to the tuned of its roaring 3 liter, 6 cylinder engine. It made the hair on the back of your neck stand up, this car was no soccer moms car but a proper hot hatch and as much as you can read stats out of the booklet, there's no true way to describe this car unless you experience it yourself. 

BMW cars come in 4 driving modes, Eco-Pro for your conservative driver, Comfort, for your everyday, any type of driving style, Sport, something to beef up the engines response time and then lastly Sport + which beefs up the engine as well as switches off any car aids such as tractional control and ESP. In a car like the M135i, one won't even bother with Eco-Pro as once you take off in comfort with your foot planted to the floor, all you want it more!

The roar from the exhaust is exhilarating and unleashes various emotions while driving it, all of them good though! I described this car as such in one of my tweets, the raw power of the motor working with the twin turbo's is magnificent, it evokes the pure passion of the guys from the factory in Munich. It's relentless and hard working but delivers performance every time you need it. It left me flabbergasted to be honest. It got to a point that I wanted to drive all them time while I had it, I offered people rides to places and even took pointless drives. 

Style

The One Series isn't much to write home about in terms of styling but I really like what they did with the face-lift. The revised lights both at the front and back add real character to the car and gives it that more executive feel. With the M Sport Package, it really beefed the car up. The M front bumper with large air-intakes, blacked out kidney grille and the non-existence of fog lights really gave the car a menacing look. The side profile has had some tweaking with M135i badged into the side skirts of the doors, the rear which had a splitter in the back bumper with it blacked out at the bottom completed the devilish look of the car. Something different about this car is the day time running lights, normally with the BMW we're used to seeing the "angel lights" or halo around the main lights but with the One series, it's more of a tear drop at the bottom which I thought was quite cool.

Comfort

Getting into the car, it seems like any other BMW, pretty much a standard setup with the added extra's of the M Sport package, that being lots of chrome, silver and sporty finishes, not forgetting the electronic racing seats. The M Sport steering wheel is probably my favourite steering wheel ever, if they can be such a thing. The look, the feel and the styling of it is just great. Being a sports model, you would expect the ride quality to be quite stiff and hard but it was quite the opposite, you cant tell the difference of the ride quality between this and a 318i.

Performance

Where do I begin? All you wan't to do with this car is give it horn's and its more than happy to reciprocate. Acceleration is phenomenal, 0-100Kph in 5 seconds and it just keeps climbing at the same pace, no slowing down until it reaches it's governed speed of 250Kph. Unfortunately unlike the German's autobahn one needs a private road or test track to achieve this as our national speed limit is 120Kph. The engine is the same one that get's fitting into all of the '35i badged cars, well now they're being re-badged as '40i. You won't get the most out of this car from day to day driving as it isn't as thrilling as taking it out on the open roads, which is why I did a trip to the Natal Midlands over the weekend. 

Driving

There's no ill I can speak about the car, it performs like a beast, handles like a dream, comfort of any other car in the BMW stable and it makes such a beautiful noise. Maybe there is one thing, but that would be a given,  it does tend to make you notice more than you would like. The fuel consumption, the booklet claims it to have a combined consumption of 8 liters per 100Km but realistically its more like 10.9, switch over into sports mode and the figure almost doubles, hence I said at the beginning to throw the booklet out. The estimated range on sports mode drops faster than the Rand when we change Finance Ministers. Is it worth it though? Hell yes! Every single rand to liter is worth it with this car.

Extras
The car came with pretty much most of the thing standard on the M Package but notable extras were the reverse camera with front and rear PDC, Satnav and larger display screen, lane departure warning which comes handy at high speeds, Xenon lights, Memory seats, Sunroof and light package.

Verdict
This car gives you an andrenilin rush of note, it gets your blood pumping and awakens your soul. Yes it is small and not the most powerful engine from BMW but the complete package is simply mind blowing. The amount of joy it brings you from driving it is unbelievable and it will leave you with a stupid grin on your face every time you get out of the car. Compared to the other hot hatches it lines up against, it's not the fastest but I'd rate it the best in terms of what you're getting. It's not badly priced and the quality of the product is great. If I could afford one, I'd definitely have one in my garage. 

Specifications

• 3 litre, 6cylinder TwinPower Turbo
• 8 Speed Sports Automatic Transmission
• 240kW
• 450Nm torque
• Consumption: 8.0ltr/ 100km
• Top Speed: 250kph
• 0-100kph: 5.1 seconds 
• Price: R572 000 (excluding extras)